Friday, October 3, 2008

SECURITY COUNCIL BRIEFED ON NORTH KOREA SANCTIONS & D.R. CONGO

The

Security Council held its first consultations of the month, and they
agreed this morning to adopt a programme of work for October, under the
leadership of the new Council President, Ambassador Zhang Yesui of
China.

The Council heard a briefing by the Chair of the Sanctions Committee
dealing with the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, Italian
Ambassador Giulio Terzi de Sant-Agata.

Council members also heard a briefing on the UN Mission in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) from the head of that Mission,
Alan Doss. He talked to them about the disengagement process in the
Kivus in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

SOMALIA: U.N. AGENCIES HELP FAMILIES DISPLACED BY FIGHTING

Heavy fighting in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, last week

forced an estimated 15,000 people to flee to safer districts within the
city, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs.

Despite the challenging security situation, a World Food
Programme-supported food kitchen project served 14 million meals in
Mogadishu this week. UNICEF and its partners have distributed basic
supplies to 8,000 newly displaced families. In addition, UNICEF
continues to support immunization and other programmes for children and
pregnant women, as well as supplementary feeding and therapeutic
centres.

Some 3.2 million people, or 43 percent of Somalias population, are in
dire need of humanitarian assistance.

Relief agencies are short of $231 million of the $646 million required
to cover the needs of those affected.

UNAMID reports that these latest arrivals of police advisors from
Malaysia, Malawi, Jordan, Yemen, Pakistan, Uganda, Nepal, Bangladesh,
Turkey, Senegal, El Salvador and South Africa, bring the total number
of UNAMID Police Advisors to 1,877. The mandated strength is 3,772.

UNAMID Police Advisors are involved in training Community Policing
Volunteers in camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs); capacity
building for the Government of Sudan Police and other parties to the
Darfur conflict, to enable them to operate according to internationally
accepted standards of policing; monitoring investigations into
gender-based violence cases; confidence-building patrols in IDP camps
and support to the delivery of humanitarian assistance to IDPs in
Darfur.

Asked whether Rwandan Gen. Karenzi Karake would be extended as Deputy
Force Commander for UNAMID, the Spokeswoman said that the matter is
still being discussed, and she noted that his post is a joint
appointment made by the United Nations and the African Union. His
current term, she said, expires later this month.

Okabe said, in response to a further question, that the
Secretary-General had discussed General Karenzis appointment with
Rwandan President Paul Kagame when the two met on the margins of the
General Assembly session last week.

Asked about efforts to obtain helicopters for UNAMID, the Spokeswoman
said that efforts continue to secure them as soon as possible, but she
added that she had no new offers to announce.

U.N. HUMANITARIAN CONVOY REACHES DISPLACED SRI LANKANS

In Sri Lanka, the World Food Programme (WFP)

reports that the first convoy of food and other essential supplies
dispatched by the United Nations has reached the 200,000 displaced
people in the area controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
(LTTE).

A convoy, delivering enough food to feed the population for one week,
will be dispatched each week traveling from Vavunya through the Omantai
crossing point to the conflict-affected areas.

The population has been cut off from humanitarian assistance for more
than two weeks after fighting escalated in the region.

The WFP truck convoys are also ferrying humanitarian supplies on behalf
of other relief agencies, as the UN and other international
humanitarian aid offices withdrew from the Vanni Region on 16 September
following a government-issued directive requiring staff to be relocated
outside the LTTE-controlled area.

U.N. TO EXPLORE MODALITIES OF POSSIBLE PAKISTAN COMMISSION

Asked about the Pakistani Government's request for a commission of
inquiry into the circumstances of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto,
the Spokeswoman said that the subject had come up when the Secretary
-General met with the President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, on the
margins of the General Assembly session.

Okabe said that the Secretary-General offered his condolences not only
on the President's personal loss but also the loss of so many
Pakistanis in the recent terrorist bombing in Islamabad. The
Secretary-General also encouraged Pakistan to persist in its dialogue
both with India and Afghanistan.

She added that it was agreed that the United Nations would see what it
could do to support the request for an independent fact-finding
commission and would explore further the precise modalities and brief
of such a Commission.

KOSOVO: U.N. MISSION REOPENS NORTHERN COURTHOUSE

The UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) today

reopened a courthouse in north Mitrovica that was the scene of violence
earlier this year. The building had been forcibly occupied by Kosovo
Serb demonstrators on 14 March.

Starting today, the courthouse will be staffed by UNMIK international
staff, including two judges, two prosecutors, legal officers and
administrative assistants. In this initial phase of the reopening, the
prosecutors and international judges will only handle urgent criminal
cases. They will apply UNMIK law and procedure.

The Secretary-Generals Special Representative for Kosovo, Lamberto
Zannier, called todays reopening a first step to ensure that rule of
law is provided to everyone in Kosovo.

NUCLEAR WATCHDOG TO HELP PROTECT NUCLEAR INSTALLATIONS FROM
EARTHQUAKES

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) today officially

inaugurated an international centre to coordinate efforts to protect
nuclear installations against the effects of earthquakes.

The International Seismic Safety Centre (ISSC), which has been
established within the IAEA's Department of Nuclear Safety and Security
and will be based in Vienna, will serve as a focal point on seismic
safety for nuclear installations worldwide. It will assist countries on
the assessment of seismic hazards of nuclear facilities to mitigate the
consequences of strong earthquakes.

says donor funding for contraceptives and condoms for HIV prevention is
stagnating, despite rising global demand. According to its latest
analysis, contributions for these supplies totaled $223 million in
2007, or slightly less than in 2001. During that time, the worlds
population has continued to grow, and more couples are using modern
methods of contraception.

Without concerted efforts, millions will not be able to exercise their
reproductive health choices, the analysis warns.

FUNDING INCREASES FOR ENERGY PROJECTS: The World Bank has

announced a funding increase for renewable energy and energy efficiency
projects in developing countries. Funding for these projects rose 87
per cent from the 2007 to 2008 fiscal year. Commitments for the 2008
fiscal year reached nearly $2.7 billion, with 95 projects in 51
countries.

THE WEEK AHEAD AT THE UNITED NATIONS

Saturday, October 4

Today through 10 October is World Space Week.

Sunday, October 5

Today is World Teachers Day.

Monday, October 6

Today is the first day of substantive work for all of the General
Assemblys main committees, except for the Fifth Committee, which began
its substantive session on 3 October.

At 11.15 a.m. in Room S-226, Mark Richmond, UNESCOs Director of the
Division for the Coordination of U.N. Priorities in Education,
introduces the main findings of the Mid-Decade Review Report on the
U.N. Literacy Decade and UNESCOs new report on the Global Literacy
Challenge.

Today is World Habitat Day. From 1.15 to 2.30 p.m. in Conference Room
D, there will be a briefing on Renewable energy in urban settings.
From 2.30 to 6 p.m. in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library, there will be a special event on Harmonious cities.

The International Atomic Energy Agencys Board of Governors meets today
in Vienna.

All this week in Geneva, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees
Executive Committee holds its annual meeting. Today, there will be a
ceremony to present the annual Nansen Refugee Award to Christopher
Clark and the U.N. Mine Action Coordination Centre of South Lebanon.

From today through 17 October in Geneva, the
Preparatory Committee for the Durban Review Conference holds its second
substantive session.

All this week, the International Maritime Organizations Marine
Environment Protection Committee meets in London.

From today through Thursday, the Second Symposium on
the Ocean in a High CO2 World, convened in part by UNESCOs
Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission and the International Atomic
Energy Agency, takes place in Monaco.

Tuesday, October 7

At 11 a.m. in Room S-226, the Secretary-General holds the first of his
regularly-scheduled monthly press conferences. There will no noon
briefing by the Spokesperson today.

This morning, the Security Council is scheduled to hold a debate on the
U.N. Peacebuilding Support Office in Guinea-Bissau.

At 2 p.m. in Room S-226, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian
Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes briefs ahead of
the International Day for Disaster Reduction (8 October).

Today and tomorrow, the Secretary-Generals Personal Envoy for the talks
between Greece and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Matthew
Nimetz, meets with both sides in New York.

In Rome, the Food and Agriculture Organization releases its State of
Food and Agriculture report, which examines the prospects, risks and
opportunities of biofuels.

In Brussels, the U.N., the European Commission, and the European
Parliament convene a high-level inter-institutional conference on 60
Years of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: The Defenders Take
the Floor.

Wednesday, October 8

This morning, the Security Council is scheduled to hold a private
meeting with Troop Contributing Countries to the U.N. Stabilization
Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), followed by an open briefing and
consultations on MINUSTAH.

From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Economic and Social
Council Chamber, the Peacebuilding Commissions Central African Republic
configuration holds its second meeting.

Today is the International Day for Disaster Reduction.

Thursday, October 9

Today and tomorrow, the General Assembly plenary holds informal
consultations on the draft Doha outcome document on reviewing the
Implementation of the Monterrey Consensus.

This morning, the Security Council is scheduled to hold a private
meeting with Troop Contributing Countries to the U.N. Observer Mission
in Georgia (UNOMIG), followed by consultations on UNOMIG and on the
Councils Somalia sanctions committee.

The guest at the noon briefing is Under-Secretary-General for
Management Angela Kane, who will brief on management reform.

Today and tomorrow, the first ever UN Book Days take place in the
General Assembly Visitors Lobby.

Today is World Post Day.

Friday, October 10

At 11 a.m., the Security Council is scheduled to hold a Coordinators
Meeting.

The guest at the Spokesperson's noon briefing is Yvo de Boer, Executive
Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, who will
discuss the latest developments in negotiations on a new climate change
agreement that needs to be finalized by December 2009 in Copenhagen.